I Wouldn't Have it Any Other Way
by GasMaskGeek
Summary: Kaneki finds himself in a depressive slump and has no desire to keep living his life. He wants to stay inside and shut the world out. It pains Hide to see Kaneki in a situation like that so he decides to take Kaneki to a festival, only for the duo to be ambushed by an mysterious antagonistic force. One-Shot. HideKane.


Kaneki was waked by a sudden ringing piercing his eyes. He sat up in his bed feeling disoriented and lost, barely recognizing his own home he'd lived in since he was a small child. His memory was hazy, like a huge chunk of his life was missing. His mouth was dry and his eyes felt crusted shut. He gently pressed his fingers against his closed eyes and rubbed away the gunk caked into his eyes and looked around. His room was dark, due the window's shade close and his door closed tight. Kaneki looked over at the nightstand beside his bed and seen the time was 4:51 AM and sighed. The ringing persisted, and as he came into focus he realized the ringing was his phone lying on his pillow beside of where his head had previously been. He answered, not looking at the name, and was surprised by the voice on the other side of the line. It was a very deep, haunting voice that sent shivers up his spine. All it said was, "See you tonight, Eyepatch," and disconnected.

Kaneki fell back against his bed, head slamming into his pillow and he screamed. This wasn't the first time he'd gotten a message like this. So many times he'd thought of what life would be like if he hadn't believe in that vile woman that turned him into what he now was. Frustrated with his life, Kaneki balled his hands into fists and choked back tears. He was tired of getting these random phone calls, tired of the nickname Eyepatch, tired of living in two different realities. He felt like his entire being was spiraling downwards into depths that he could never be pulled out of.

His phone rang again and he answered by screaming, "What do you want from me?! Leave me alone!" The other side of the line was quiet for a moment, giving no sign of a caller even being there. Kaneki listened to the silence and slowly calmed down. He felt his stomach twist and churn when the caller was revealed to be Hide by him saying, "Sorry Kaneki….. Not a good time? I can call back later," to which Kaneki hastily replied, "No no I just," he huffed, "What is it Hide?"

Hide asked, "Well there's that festival happening tonight and I was wondering if you wanted to go. I can pay for food, so do you want to go with me?" Kaneki answered with a simple, "Yeah," and hung up the phone. Hearing his best friend's voice lightened his mood some, but he still felt like heavy chains were weighing down on his heart and mind. Hide always tried to help Kaneki feel more comfortable in his own skin, but sometimes he said things that drove a stake right through Kaneki's chest. Hide mentioning 'buying food' was one of those things that reminded Kaneki just of who he was.

The evening time rolled around and Kaneki was still unready to do anything that involved moving. From time to time he fell into depressive slumps just as he had earlier that morning, but somehow mustered enough strength and energy to shower and get dressed. He sat in his living room waiting for Hide to show up, although a side of him begged and pleaded his best friend didn't come due to the fact he feared losing control of his other-self. Dreadfully he heard a knocking at his front door and groaned. He muttered to himself, "Please…. Please go away…" but knew no matter how much he wished it, he had to go outside and live his life. He drudged towards his front door and opened it, perking himself up before letting Hide see him. With a smile Hide asked, "All ready to go?" Kaneki shook his head in agreement and locked his front door before leaving to the festival.

If there's one thing Kaneki loved it was Ferris wheels. When he rode inside of them he felt like all of his worries and troubles vanished, and like he could fly away into the stars and never come back to the world that treated him so poorly. Before going to do anything else, Kaneki asked if they could ride the Ferris wheel together so he could see the shining pockets of hopes the stars gave, to which Hide agreed. They boarded one of the wheel's carriages and sat opposite each other. Kaneki laid his head against the carriage's window and stared up at the sky as they rose into the air; however the machine came to a stop as soon as their carriage reached the peak point. Kaneki began to panic and looked around at the ground only to find all the other lights and rides too had came to a stop and shut down.

Hide tried to calm Kaneki down by telling him these kinds of machines broke down all the time and that they would be moving again soon momentarily. He carefully moved over to Kaneki's side and sat next to him, saying, and "Calm down. It's just a ride. We'll be back on the ground soon." Kaneki looked at Hide, wanting to believe in him, but something in his gut refused to let him. He held his hand over his eyepatch and frowned. Kaneki muttered, "Sometimes…. Sometimes I wonder…. How close I am to cracking…." Hide wrapped on arm around his best friend and displayed a very caring and warm expression. He said, "When you do crack, I'm going to be there to put you back together again and again. We're friends. I'm never going to leave your side."

Kaneki smiled and felt his heart warm-up inside. He found himself thinking quite often about his situation and about whom he was, but something about Hide always brought him back down to earth and forget all his troubles. That moment of peace, however, was short lived. The carriage rattled and shook, making sounds of extreme strain as if it were about to break. The two looked up and saw the roof being ripped away, with a giant red glowing eagle-like creature being the culprit. Its wings beat and stirred up a ferocious wind that rocked the Ferris wheel back and forth. One of its talons reached inside and grabbed Hide, holding him tight enough so he couldn't squirm or scream for help. It began flying away, only to be grabbed buy crimson colored insect-like extensions protruding from Kaneki's body. His eyes were blank, his face emotionless. He yelled, "Give him back!"

The eagle glared at the Halfling ghoul and said in an oddly robotic sounding voice, "Kaneki Ken. Artificial One-Eyed Ghoul. Target confirmed," then proceeded to drop Hide back down into the carriage with enough force to make Hide vomit blood. Kaneki, feeling nothing but rage coursing though his body, lashed out against the bird and ripped its eyes from its skull with his centipede-shaped bodily extensions. He threw its eyes far off towards the ocean, screaming and crying out in agony. The bird screeched and flew off at a speed so fast it made bullet trains look like turtles in comparison. Kaneki fell to his knees and cried over Hide's barely conscious body. Hide extended his hand out to Kaneki and held it against his best friend's cheek. He hooked his index finger around Kaneki's eye-patch and pulled it down so his eye was exposed. Kankei tried to put it back on, but Hide refused to let him do so. Kaneki asked, "Why….? I'm nothing but a monster… You seen what I just did, and you're hurt too! If I wasn't what I am then you wouldn't be hurt!"

Hide kept a smile on his face and slowly sat up, wincing in pain with every movement.

Hide looked straight into Kaneki's eyes and said, "We're friends. I'm not leaving your side no matter what. I've been there since the beginning. Do you really think I'd leave now? You're eye, it looks cool! You're not a monster. You're my best and closest friend. I wouldn't have you any other way."


End file.
